Dan, I am also a newbie and may not have any useful info but am also trying to fathom a possible problem with Grub. The e-mail from Julian Stecklina Jul 13, 2010 11:24 AM gave the link: http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/multiboot/multiboot.html. I pasted www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual into my browser and downloaded a pdf file of the grub manual to peruse.
Following are some of the commands I issued after studying man command or info command to learn what to expect. I don't understand all the results but perhaps you may find some value in the following examples. Randy ubu...@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x137c4121 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sda1 * 1 60801 488384001 7 HPFS/NTFS Disk /dev/sdb: 203.9 GB, 203928109056 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 24792 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x2756f130 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sdb1 * 1 12748 102398278+ 7 HPFS/NTFS /dev/sdb2 12749 24792 96743430 5 Extended /dev/sdb5 12749 24297 92767311 83 Linux /dev/sdb6 24298 24792 3976056 82 Linux swap / Solaris ubu...@ubuntu:~$ ubu...@ubuntu:~$ sudo blkid -p /dev/sdb /dev/sdb: PTTYPE="dos" ubu...@ubuntu:~$ sudo blkid -p /dev/sdb2 /dev/sdb2: PTTYPE="dos" ubu...@ubuntu:~$ sudo blkid -p /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdb1: LABEL="DRV2_VOL1" UUID="D670FEB970FEA003" TYPE="ntfs" USAGE="filesystem" ubu...@ubuntu:~$ sudo blkid -p /dev/sdb5 /dev/sdb5: UUID="aa9a097f-1e9c-46af-ad23-73eaea054901" VERSION="1.0" TYPE="ext4" USAGE="filesystem" ubu...@ubuntu:~$ sudo blkid -p /dev/sdb6 /dev/sdb6: UUID="70b96e2b-0af1-4580-888f-dd9f8bf539be" VERSION="2" TYPE="swap" USAGE="other" ubu...@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount dev/sdb /mnt mount: special device dev/sdb does not exist ubu...@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount /dev/sdb /mnt mount: /dev/sdb already mounted or /mnt busy ubu...@ubuntu:~$ sudo umount /dev/sdb /mnt umount: /dev/sdb: not mounted umount: /mnt: not mounted ubu...@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount /dev/sdb /mnt mount: /dev/sdb already mounted or /mnt busy ubu...@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount /dev/sdb5 /mnt ubu...@ubuntu:~$ sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/ /dev/sdb Installation finished. No error reported. ******* reboot ******* ra...@randy-desktop:~$ sudo update-grub [sudo] password for randy: Generating grub.cfg ... Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-22-generic Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-22-generic Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-21-generic Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-21-generic Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin Found Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition on /dev/sda1 Found Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition on /dev/sdb1 done ra...@randy-desktop:~$ sudo parted /dev/sdb2/ print Error: Could not stat device /dev/sdb2/ - Not a directory. Retry/Cancel? c ra...@randy-desktop:~$ sudo parted /dev/sdb/ print Error: Could not stat device /dev/sdb/ - Not a directory. Retry/Cancel? c ra...@randy-desktop:~$ sudo parted /dev/sdb5/ print Error: Could not stat device /dev/sdb5/ - Not a directory. Retry/Cancel? c ra...@randy-desktop:~$ sudo parted /dev/sda/ print Error: Could not stat device /dev/sda/ - Not a directory. Retry/Cancel? c ra...@randy-desktop:~$ sudo parted /dev/sdb1/ print Error: Could not stat device /dev/sdb1/ - Not a directory. Retry/Cancel? c ********* Closed Terminal. Opened New Terminal. Issued same parted command ********* ra...@randy-desktop:~$ ra...@randy-desktop:~$ sudo parted /dev/sdb print [sudo] password for randy: Model: ATA Maxtor 6L200P0 (scsi) Disk /dev/sdb: 204GB Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B Partition Table: msdos Number Start End Size Type File system Flags 1 32.3kB 105GB 105GB primary ntfs boot 2 105GB 204GB 99.1GB extended 5 105GB 200GB 95.0GB logical ext4 6 200GB 204GB 4071MB logical linux-swap(v1) ra...@randy-desktop:~$ sudo parted /dev/sdb2 print Error: Can't have a partition outside the disk! -----Original Message----- >From: Dan Buehler <[email protected]> >Sent: Jul 7, 2010 4:56 PM >To: [email protected] >Subject: Troubleshooting boot problem > >I am trying to troubleshoot an intermittent boot problem. First, I set >the defaults to allow me to see all the boot messages. When it failed >again I was able to determine that the problem occurred right after the >grub menu selections go away but before the OS is loaded. It just >stopped there with nothing but a flashing cursor. > >Does anyone on the list have a suggestion how to troubleshoot this kind >of problem? Is there a way find out what problem grub encountered? I >am pretty much a newbie here and will appreciate any help. > >I am using ubuntu 10.04 with grub2. > >Dan > > >_______________________________________________ >Help-grub mailing list >[email protected] >http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-grub _______________________________________________ Help-grub mailing list [email protected] http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-grub
